26 Haverhill St. (formerly located at #18)
This home was owned by James Smith and his family from 1861 to 1916. The house was originally built on the north side of Haverhill Street at #18, and near current site of the Kaye House at 22-24 Haverhill St. With the development of Shawsheen Village, Burnham Rd., which ended on Haverhill St., was extended north creating York Street and an access road to the site of the new Shawsheen Mill buildings. This house was then moved east to the new corner lot.

James Smith, the eldest of the Smith family children, purchased the parcel from his brother John on Mar. 4, 1861. James Smith b. Dec. 12, 1793 in Brechin, Scotland son of Peter & Jennett (Middleton) Smith. James was 16 when his father died in 1810 and assumed the role of provider for the family. Brother John, age 13, also went to work as a millwright. In Aug. 1816 John immigrated to Massachusetts and in 1824 founded the John Smith & Co., in Andover, makers of machinery for cotton manufacturing.

James married Nov. 12, 1820 in Barony, Scotland to Margaret Crawford and had seven children; Mary b. July 30, 1821, John b. 1824- d. 1839, Peter b. 1828-d.1829, Jennette M. b. 1830 all born in Scotland and Agnes Ferguson b. 1833, Ann Crawford b. 1836-d. 1839 and Margaret Byers b. 1837- d. 1846 in Andover.

James came to Andover in 1831with his family. James was a devout Christian and supporter of the Temperance movement. He first joined West Parish Church on May 6, 1832 with his wife Margaret. His brother Peter was a Deacon and had joined in 1828. James was an Abolitionists and became a charter member of the Free Christion Church in 1846 along with his brother John and their families. Peter however remained at West Parish.

Mary Smith was the oldest child of James & Margaret b. July 30, 1821 in Glasgow, Scotland. Mary was 10 when they came to Frye Village. Mary married on Aug. 10, 1841 to Robert Ross b. July 1816 d. Aug. 15, 1854 age 38y 1m. of consumption. Mary & Robert had two daughters; Margaret Elizabeth bp. Sept. 3, 1843 and Mary S. b. 1847 - d. July 7, 1868. When she was widowed she moved back with her children to her parent’s home. Her two sisters Jennett M. and Agnes F. did not marry and all three would inherit the home after their father died on Sept. 28, 1864. Margaret died on Oct. 11, 1873.

Jennett worked as a servant and is listed as a teacher in the 1865 census. Agnes graduated from Oberlin College and became a teacher.at Center District School and the Frye Village School (Richardson School) on Lowell St. Her niece Mary S. Ross taught the Jr. dept. there until her death in 1868 of Typhoid Fever.. Margaret Elizabeth Ross married William McRea on Mar. 7, 1866 at South Church and lived in Saratoga Springs, NY. Margaret & William had three children, Mary S. b. 1869, Charlotte b. 1873 and Wm. Ross McRea b. 1888.

Mary (Smith) Ross died on Oct. 6, 1889 at her daughter’s home in NY. Her one third share of the property was inherited by dau. Margaret McRea. Jennett and Agnes lived out their years together in the family home with annual visits to Saratoga Springs. Jannette is listed in the NY Census of 1875 with the McRea family. Jannett died on Mar. 3, 1909 in Andover and Agnes then inherits her sisters share. Miss Agnes, as she was known by the young children in the neighborhood also died in NY as her nieces home. All the Smith families are interred at West Parish Cemetery.
Margaret (Ross) McRea inherited the property from Aunt Agnes and would sell the following years on July10, 1916 to Henry P. Binney, Trustee agent for the American Woolen Company. All the Binney holdings were then transferred to the American Woolen Company on Dec. 30, 1920.

This home was saved and became part of the Shawsheen Village development 1918 – 1924 by William M. Wood, President of the American Woolen Company. Wood hired about eight different architects to design the homes and structures for the village. Homes were sold or rented through the Homestead Association who had offices in the Post Office building on the corner of North Main & Poor Streets.

After the death of William M. Wood on Feb. 2, 1926 most of the residential and commercial buildings were then sold. Some were held by the Wood family in the "Arden Trust" and others with the American Woolen Company. The A.W.Co. Board of Directors authorized its then President, Lionel J. Noah, to deliver all deeds, as deemed necessary to the Textile Realty Co. for sale on Dec. 29, 1931.

The Textile Realty then transferred ownership to the Andover Shawsheen Realty Company on June 30, 1932, holding the mortgage on the properties. T. Edwin Andrew, treasurer, was authorized to sell or rent the properties. With the Great Depression sales were sluggish and many homes were rented until the economy rebounded.

The first occupants of record to lease the home in 1926 were Clarence W. & Addie E. Coolidge. Clarence was a superintendent of a mill in Lawrence. They had two daughters, Irma I. a stenographer and Doris E. a clerk in the A. W. Co.

This house was sold to Alfred & Sophie Hahnenstein on Jan. 4, 1946 and then sold to Pietro & Antonia Grigola on Apr. 9, 1951.

The 1922 Shawsheen Village map marks this home as the Old M. Wood house, indicating it was moved from another site.